Chapter 297: The Invitation from the Eclipse Society

As the Dusk Maiden returned, Li Tanghan, who had been secretly observing the situation inside the swimming pool, caught sight of the terrifying scene, almost letting out a scream.

Though he had dealt with haunters before, those he encountered were always the insignificant ones.

However, the haunting legend of the Dusk Maiden had been widely known in Hua City long before the night stretched.

Li Tanghan vaguely remembered, back in his school days, hearing rumors about students encountering that dreadful woman on their way home from school.

A haunting that had been talked about for at least a decade wasn’t something minor characters like Sackface could compare to, Li realized just then.

Li Tanghan acknowledged that the shady business he was involved in was really not meant for him.

After completing a deal, was it necessary to spy and gather intelligence on the buyers?

Those were merciless killers, after all!

What if he were discovered? Li Tanghan wondered.

Amidst his shock and worry, just as he was about to say something, Cai Jin, sensing something, suddenly pulled him into an embrace, covering his mouth in the process.

Feeling the warmth from the solid chest against his back, Li Tanghan was momentarily stunned. Looking up, his eyes met Cai Jin’s, sparking a strange momentary connection.

Then.

Both of their bodies jerked as if electrified, hurriedly averting their gazes.

Li Tanghan, “…”

Thank goodness I’m a real man, otherwise this plot twist between the boss’s bodyguard and the young mistress…

Wait a minute!

This kid doesn’t have any weird fetishes, does he? Li Tanghan thought.

“Keep it down, and don’t move. They won’t notice us as long as you stay quiet,” Cai Jin whispered.

Hearing this, Li Tanghan only then noticed the pendant Cai Jin was wearing on his chest, flickering faintly. Under the dim light, a grey mist was barely visible around them.

That thing…

Li Tanghan frowned slightly. He recognized that pendant; he had one just like it, but he hardly ever wore it because it was so ugly.

Even though his own father was a devotee of the Celestial Being, who wears a neighborhood landmark logo on them all the time?

But seeing the miraculous effect of the pendant on Cai Jin, Li Tanghan silently resolved to always keep his pendant with him.

Shortly.

After the Dusk Maiden left with a group of Black Cloak Men, Cai Jin finally released Li Tanghan.

He stood up, looked around, and said, “It’s safe now. Go about your business. I need to leave first; I have to report back to the boss.”

With that, Cai Jin turned and left the vicinity of the swimming pool, which soon quieted down.

Watching him walk away, Li Tanghan looked around, feeling a chill, and then shouted, “Wait up, I’ll come with you!” and ran after him.

That night.

In a chaotic urban village in the Hua City Suburbs.

In a pitch-dark room, a voluptuous woman dressed in a black lace nightgown was sound asleep.

Through the open bedroom door, in the unlit living room, a fair-faced man sat in the dark, staring unblinkingly at a corner like a night owl.

“My dear Little Bunny, I’m back! I’ll find you soon…”

The soft murmurs, carried as if by the wind, entered the woman’s ears, vague as if both near and far.

Suddenly, a violent surge of psychic energy fluctuation spread throughout the room.

The man paused, looking towards the bedroom from where the psychic energy emanated, frowning.

Unknown to him, the woman had already awoken, sitting up in bed clutching her painfully cramped abdomen, breathing heavily. Her beautiful features contorted in apparent agony.

Seeing this, the man pondered for a moment, then pulled out a sticky note from his pocket, flipped through it, clenched his right fist lightly against his left palm, and nodded determinedly before getting up.

In the bedroom, Ms. Rabbit sat on the bed, her crimson eyes shrinking to pinpoints, her fluffy white rabbit ears limp and lifeless beside her head.

She’s back, that woman is back!

She knows everything I’ve done!

I have no chance now; she will definitely find me and take me back!

Ms. Rabbit thought in panic, just then, a hand offering ginger tea appeared in front of her.

“Have some? It might make you feel better. This isn’t something the Council of Elders taught me; I learned it online.”

Ms. Rabbit looked up at Shu E, then at the ginger tea he somehow procured, momentarily at a loss for words.

“…”

Can’t you learn something serious online?

Have you ever seen a haunter with a period?

Initially overwhelmed by fear, Ms. Rabbit calmed down somewhat after a few internal rants.

After a brief pause, she looked up at Shu E and said sternly, “Our cooperation must unfortunately be suspended from this point on.”

“?”

Shu E looked at Ms. Rabbit’s serious face, then at the ginger tea in his hands, scratching his head in confusion.

Was there something wrong with this picture?

As Shu E didn’t respond, Ms. Rabbit explained, “I collaborated with you solely for the core entity of the aberrant type, hoping to gain the strength to fight that woman before she awakened.”

“Now that she has awakened prematurely, I might need to flee. If she catches me…”

At this, Ms. Rabbit suddenly recalled the Dusk Maiden’s brutal treatment of traitorous familiars, a chill running down her spine.

“…”

Shu E was silent for two seconds before saying, “Of course, you can terminate the collaboration. We agreed you could leave at any time. However, before you go, there’s something you should know.”

At these words, Ms. Rabbit’s limp ears perked up instantly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she eyed Shu E coldly, “What is it?”

“Uh…” Shu E hesitated, fumbling for the sticky note, “Just a moment, let me check first!”

“Where is it? I swear it was on this one, or maybe it’s in another book, no, not this one either…”

Ms. Rabbit, “…” See? This is what you get for choosing to draw Spirit Patterns using the core entity of an aberrant type haunter!

In fact, psychics who use the aberrant type core entity to draw Spirit Patterns tend to have some issues, like Shu E’s severe memory decline, which is actually one of the milder side effects.

So, a word of advice to my fellow psychic friends, stop hunting aberrant types.

No, I am an aberrant type…

While Ms. Rabbit continued her internal complaints, Shu E stared at a crumpled sticky note he had pulled out, his eyes lighting up.

“I’ve got it! The Council of Elders’ exact words, if the Dusk Maiden awakens prematurely and Mr. Rabbit withdraws from the cooperation, I am to take you back…”

Ms. Rabbit’s expression instantly became wary, a crowbar appearing in her hand in an instant, her voice cold, “Take back? What do you want to do?”

Shu E, seeing the rust-stained crowbar in Ms. Rabbit’s hand, hurriedly explained, “I think there’s some misunderstanding here. The Council of Elders just wants to invite you to join us.”

“You’ve been cooperating with me for so long, you must know that everything we do is to obtain better experimental subjects. And because of the unique properties of haunter power, you, with your extraordinary vitality, are one of the best experimental subjects in Hua City.”

Of course, there are better options, but… Shu E thought.

“The best of the samples, huh…” Ms. Rabbit murmured thoughtfully.

Indeed, Shu E was telling the truth. Looking at the bigger picture, other haunters would struggle to survive an attack from a haunter just a tier above them, let alone recover as quickly as Ms. Rabbit did.

Looking further ahead, directly consuming The Witch’s Egg to usurp power was highly risky. Ordinary haunters trying to advance through this method faced a high chance of being annihilated by the negative energy backlash, only confident in her own healing powers did Ms. Rabbit dare to attempt it.

After a pause, Shu E added, “In fact, the Eclipse Society has several experimental projects coming up that would be perfect for you. If successful, you could easily gain power to rival the Dusk Maiden.”

“Moreover, we can guarantee safety, at least for the time being, as the Dusk Maiden doesn’t yet dare to attack the Eclipse Society’s base.”

Ms. Rabbit, “…”

After a moment of silent contemplation, she looked up at Shu E, his face seeming to ask, “Do you crave power?” and said gravely, “What’s the price? What is the cost?”

“Three times!” Shu E held up three fingers, “The price is that you must unconditionally cooperate with the Eclipse Society in three different types of rituals. If successful, you can join the preparatory Council of Elders if you wish; otherwise, you are free to leave.”

“Of course, the precondition is survival. These rituals are still experimental and carry certain risks.”

Ms. Rabbit, “…” The offer seemed tempting, but something felt off, as if she had seen this scenario somewhere before.

After a few seconds of thought, she suddenly realized what was strange – she had seen this scene many times at the club where she worked.

When lower demon types negotiated prices with clients during their deals, it was just like this.

No, those lower demon types, after enjoying themselves and draining a human’s life force, still demanded payment, showing no professional ethics typical of haunters.

Like Ms. Rabbit, who would normally just eat people.

After a brief pause, Ms. Rabbit bit her lip and said, “Perhaps, I could go and see for myself first? After all, your word alone isn’t enough, is it?”

Anyone slightly knowledgeable, whether haunter or psychic, knew that falling into the hands of the Eclipse Society, to be used as experimental subjects, meant certain death if the experiments failed. The Society would recoup all data and materials from the subject.

In fact, the transaction between Shu E and Ms. Rabbit was also essentially an experiment; if Ms. Rabbit failed in the ritual of consuming The Witch’s Egg, everything about her, in addition to The Witch’s Egg, would be harvested by Shu E as experimental material.

But…

Dying at the hands of the Eclipse Society was one thing; if the Dusk Maiden fully regained her power and took her back, under her master’s control over the familiars, she would not even be able to die, and that would be a fate worse than death.

As the saying goes, sometimes living is more terrifying than death.

Choosing the lesser of two evils, after careful consideration, Ms. Rabbit made a bold decision.

“Of course, our Eclipse Society is not like those mad sorcerers obsessed with studying curses and rituals. We’ve always been very trustworthy and enlightened,” Shu E said.

“However, before we officially start, I have one condition. If I decide to participate, after the first successful experiment, I need to return to Hua City,” Ms. Rabbit stated seriously.

If she successfully gained power through the Eclipse Society’s experiment, the first thing she wanted to do was to hunt the Dusk Maiden and devour her haunting core entity.

Only by doing this could the mark of her familiars disappear forever, granting her true freedom.

Naturally, if possible, she also planned to settle both old and new scores with the thief who stole her Witch’s Egg at that time.

“Of course, in fact, after a successful experiment, you will have a long period to adjust,” Shu E explained.

Ms. Rabbit nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Shu E and asked, “When do we leave?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

Though she was deeply attached to Hua City, a place abundant with “food,” she couldn’t stand to stay a moment longer with the Dusk Maiden around.

But, when I come back next time… Ms. Rabbit thought, her eyes slightly narrowed, a chilling crimson gleam flashing through them.

Early morning.

Hua City Folk Culture Administration Bureau.

As the first rays of sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains and fell on Lu Yibei’s desk, propped up with bricks under one leg due to a defect, he stretched lazily. He checked again to ensure his hair wasn’t thinning before he could relax.

After handling a haunting incident last night, he had worked overtime to compile a detailed report and submitted it to The Midnight Watchers Society’s database, only managing a few hours of rest.

Such intense work made him worry about his hair volume.

He heard from Shui-Ge that Jiang Li often experienced this too, yet somehow, her hair remained luxuriant. Lu Yibei wondered in disbelief.

As he secretly speculated whether Jiang Li’s cascading silver hair was a wig, hiding a shiny bald head beneath, the office door was pushed open.

Bai Kai burst in, urgently asking Lu Yibei, “Yibei, I heard you encountered those robed, masked individuals last night?”

Lu Yibei glanced at Bai Kai and responded irritably, “What do you mean ‘heard’? I was the one who messaged you about it. Were you drunk last night?”

He had immediately shared the strange circumstances he witnessed at the unfinished building on Fuchun Road with Shui-Ge last night, but it went unanswered until now, several hours later.

“Well…” Bai Kai rubbed his temple, “I wasn’t drinking last night. I was busy escorting some club sisters home. They’ve been feeling rather…”

“Lonely and cold? You slept with them? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t mess around close to home? Shui-Ge, focus on something serious!”

Listening to Lu Yibei’s pointed questions, Bai Kai’s lips twitched, “What are you thinking? They are all psychics or related to haunting…”

“Holy shit!” Lu Yibei exclaimed, “You slept with a haunting?”

Gou Meng often lounged around his place in a baggy T-shirt, her long, shapely legs on display, and honestly, it was difficult to maintain purely honorable thoughts.

Plus, with Gou Meng constantly pilfering food and loafing around his house, Lu Yibei had even thought about having her pay the rent in… other ways (though he never dared).

But, thinking aside, who in their right mind would sleep with a haunting?

And Shui-Ge…

Lu Yibei looked up at Bai Kai, noting his pink suit embroidered with peacock feathers, his flirtatious peach blossom eyes, and the corners of his mouth that curled up despite his lack of laughter, and he just shook his head.

“Yibei, don’t always think so poorly of me, okay? Do I look like that kind of person?”

“…”

Lu Yibei didn’t say a word, but his eyes, nearly sparking with firm belief, said enough.

“…”

After a moment of silence, Bai Kai decided not to linger on this topic with Lu Yibei. After all, he was indeed “that kind of person” under normal circumstances.

“Yibei, the reason I was escorting the sisters home is that some of them have been targeted by those robed individuals, and someone told me that they are planning a Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.”

“So, when I saw your message this morning, I almost had a heart attack.”

After pondering Bai Kai’s words, Lu Yibei frowned.

A Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts?

From what Shui-Ge said, were those robed individuals the same ones that pesky little sister mentioned, the ones who wanted to recklessly wreak havoc in Hua City?

But…

“Someone told you? How reliable is that information? Shui-Ge, don’t get swayed by sweet nothings! Throughout history, many have fallen for such tricks,” Lu Yibei advised earnestly.

“What are you talking about?” Bai Kai argued, “The person who informed me is absolutely reliable, and there’s no way they would mislead me with sweet nothings.”

Ah-Hua, that child, although she’s been involved in poisoning, blowing up mountains, and drugging us since she was young, she’s definitely a good girl when it comes to serious matters and wouldn’t lie.

However, it’s strange how she ended up mingling in the circle of solitary psychics in Hua City instead of finding Yibei directly.

If it were up to me, it would be my turn to play matchmaker, but now…

As Bai Kai thought this, he sneakily glanced at Lu Yibei.

If Ah-Hua knew that her fiancé occasionally turned into a girl, with her temperament, she might do something dreadful, right?

Rituals to correct or change gender, and alchemical potions, do exist after all…